This is a fan’s personal view of AFC Bournemouth from the outside looking in. It reports on the daily official activities reported by the club and comments made by individual fans on social media and fanbase websites. Life as an AFCB fan is never dull. As a life-long supporter of the Cherries, it is the friendliness of the staff, fans and my enthusiasm for the club that inspired me to write this blog.

Welcome

Monday, 6 January 2014

Do fans get too close to players?

It as this time of the season that fans get quite emotional about players who leave their clubs and mainly for good reason. After seeing a player do well for your team and then perhaps have a period when they fall out of the team is difficult. There is a bond between players and fans, I am sure of it. We all want the best players to play for our club, but at the end of the day football isn't just a sport - it's a business.

We follow AFCB players around the country. It is no wonder that we
feel that we get very close to them and find it hard to let go when they move on.

That means managers are paid to make not only popular but unpopular decisions with regard to footballing matters. A prize player of yesterday may not be such an asset today or tomorrow. That makes it hard on players who also form a close knit camaraderie at clubs like AFCB. I think AFCB is all the more special because the players do seem to form very close friendships. Sadly these playing bonds can't last for ever even if the friendships formed can be life long. Fans have to realise that as well. I always find it hard to see players leave our club even if they want to go. In the past, many of those players left because they had done well and could move up the leagues. Now it is perhaps more likely that they will not have made the grade, as AFCB has many players that have not featured in the first team this season. This is not like the sale back in 2010/11 when much of the team was sold, because they probably over achieved by getting to the league One play-offs. The squad has needed trimming for a while and Eddie Howe has had lots of time now to work out which players are most important for him to keep hold of. It may be that some players need to move on for their own reasons and we should respect that. Today, we leaned that Miles Addison has gone on a loan until the end o the season at Rotherham, while Matt Tubbs has joined his old club Crawley Town for a month. I hope they both do well.So do us fans get too close to players? Yes, of course we do. And some players we will not get the chance to say goodbye to this transfer window. So it is understandable that fans should feel upset when they players they like are no longer at the club. As fans we live and breathe AFCB and always want the best for our club, so there is nothing wrong in that. UTCIAD!

2 comments:

So long as we keep a hold of Richie, Fraser, OKane, Grabban, Pugh, Daniels, Elphick, Cook, oh hang on a minute, yeah we do love them all. Here's an angle though.. What has twitter done to this relationship too? I follow all the players that have accounts, and frequently compliment them on decent shifts or good goals or retweet if another fan has got there first. And, in turn, the players will favourite or retweet or even sometimes reply, so yeah, it's not just human/fan nature but also new technology that gets the fans close to the players. We are in a great time right now and long may it continue! UTCIAD

Good comment. The article was actually inspired by a fan who gave me some stick on Twitter the other day as he felt I had been over critical of Wes Thomas. I think we all have our favourites and you may have more than most. You might not like my article tomorrow because I'll look at those who are perhaps not making the grade at Dean Court - I'll try and be kind. Regarding Twitter I see the club had to announce that Lee Camp was not on Twitter when so many AFCB fans tried to tweet him after the Brighton game on his great performance. Some poor fella also called Lee Camp must have felt very popular that day even if he was not a goalkeeper!

BBC Radio Solent talk to Eddie Howe after a disappointing 4-1 defeat in Yorkshire

Eddie Howe speaks to BBC Radio Solent on doing the double over Stoke City

Cherries substitutions made the difference for Howe

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is full of praise for Joshua King and Lys Mousset, who both came off the bench to score as the Cherries came from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1 #afcb ��https://t.co/Z0ttI4azBx

Champions

Subscribe To

Eddie lifts the ChampionshipTrophy

Eddie lifts the ChampionshipTrophy

Let our advertisers know you saw them on Cherry Chimes

As Cherry Chimes grows we will probably show more adverts. If you visit the advertisers do let them know that you saw them on Cherry Chimes. Cherry Chimes is not responsible for any problems or disputes you may have with third party sites advertising on this blog.

Eddie Howe tells everyone what the title means

Cherry Bear shows off his moves!

Cherry Chimes' mobile phone App

It's free to download. Scan the QR code or click on the pic it will also take you to the download

Blog Author

About Me

I love watching AFCB with my two sons and you'll see me at Dean Court most home games and some away ones as I am an exile, no longer living in Bournemouth. I have supported the Cherries since the late 1970s, but did not go to my first match until 1981. I am a business to business magazine journalist on an international publication. I have been a journalist since 1992 when I completed my post-graduate diploma in journalism studies at Cardiff University.